Recruiting Process — how we do it at Excited
Hey guys 🙋🏻♀️A little bit more than a year ago I was living in Krakow, where I worked for about two years in a vast international company. However, I was looking for opportunities in Ukraine. I wanted to work in a smaller company, not to feel like a small cog, a nice community, and to admire and be proud of what the company does. I have been subscribed to Excited on social media for a long time, and as soon as I saw the HR vacancy open, I realized that this was my chance. And in a month I moved from Krakow to Lviv with all my belongings.
For more than a year of experience as an HR manager in a digital product design agency Excited, I had the opportunity to conduct dozens of interviews and review hundreds of resumes and cover letters. Unfortunately, changing and finding a job is on a to-do list for many people now, and I know from my own experience that sometimes it’s not easy, so I want to share with you some tips to make this process easier.
Before looking for a new job, I recommend you determine what you are looking for and why. First, you should decide for yourself at which company you would like to work. After answering this question, determine for yourself the priority of the factors that you will pay attention to when applying for a vacancy.
Each submission should start with a so-called “homework”. Simply google the company, and check the website, projects, values, and feedback from employees and customers. If you do not have any information on the company’s website or social networks — do not hesitate to contact HR managers or recruiters and clarify what you are interested in. We at Excited have a page careers where all the useful information for those applying for the vacancy is collected: values, benefits, reviews, and photos from the life of the agency, also you are always welcome to send me questions through LinkedIn or Instagram regarding vacancies, our projects, values, etc.
Applying for the vacancy
Most design job applications consist of three components: a resume, a cover letter, and a portfolio so you should be prepared before applying.
How good resume looks:
- Ideally, a good resume should be on one A4 page so that the person who will review it can immediately see the most important things. During the day, recruiters review a lot of resumes; make their work easier — do not make them read your life story.
- It is important that your resume meets the requirements of the vacancy you are applying for. I can recommend you focus on showing your experience and skills that are relevant to the position.
- Don’t forget to leave your contact details. Provide channels through which you will be comfortable communicating, if you check your mail once a month or you are uncomfortable receiving calls during business hours — provide other ways to contact you (wats app, telegram, Viber, etc.) or leave a note which way you prefer. Recruiters also have standard work schedules, so if you leave your phone number, be prepared to take the call.
- If you have a decent photo — add it to your resume. Personally, it helps me remember a person when there is a big amount of candidates. But a photo is not a required attribute. Note that in some countries recruiters don’t like CVs with photos, so google it first.
- My personal request is not to use filled-in stars or dots to show your language skills or tools you know. In the case of language skills, there is a well-known system of levels, and the tools you have can be listed (details will be discussed in the technical part of the interview).
- Prefer a resume format in which all links are clickable, and opening the file will not require any additional actions, such as registering, uploading, or sending a request for access. I can recommend a pdf format or a resume in Figma or Notion.
Cover Letter
A cover letter can increase your chances of reaching the interview stage. The main secret of the cover letter is to tell why you decided to apply for this vacancy and what benefits you can bring to the company. It should show your motivation, but it should not be too long.
Portfolio
Perhaps the most important part of applying for a job for designers is the portfolio. In order to analyze this part, let’s try to show empathy and imagine what the process of reviewing a portfolio looks like for the person who evaluates it. At Excited those are designers of Senior levels and design director. All these people usually have a lot of work and tasks, so they do not have time at all. So your portfolio should be one that can be valued quickly and easily. Here are some tips from our design director Oleksandr:
“The portfolio should be well organized, options such as a folder on Google Drive with screens from different projects, or a Figma file with a set of frames are not the best way to do it and do not simplify the work for the person who will review it. Instead, a website with full-fledged case studies (you can do it on Webflow, a prototype in Figma, or a document in Notion), Behance, or Dribbble profiles will simplify the reviewing process and, most importantly, characterize you as a specialist. After all, the design of a personal portfolio is also a design project.
In addition, a very important factor is what it consists of and how you will present each project. Each project should contain a short description that will clearly present the objectives, team, your role in the project, and the result you have achieved.
The balance between visual and textual components is also very important. A portfolio where there is a lot of text about what and how you did, but the results are only in two pictures doesn’t allow the designer to evaluate your design. But also not the best option will be the opposite — only a visual result of work, without explanations of the work process. So the best combination is to design a project where there is enough background about it, your role in it, and many visual results: results of the research, design of pages and components, prototype or animation video, system design, and documentation in general.
I’ll also advise you to pay attention to what the company you want to get into specializes in, if its work is dominated by SaaS products, for example, it would be appropriate to add to your portfolio projects in this area. ”
The interview
Usually, at Excited we divide HR and technical parts into two interviews. Before the interview, I recommend refreshing your knowledge of the company so that there are no strange situations where you confuse who you are communicating with. Also, we at Excited always leave time to answer all questions, so do not hesitate to ask anything that interests you.
If this is an interview in person, this is a great opportunity to see how the company works — pay attention to the style of communication, photos, awards, and the atmosphere in general, it’s also your chance to meet the team in person. I don’t think it’s necessary to write about being on time, but if you’re late, be sure to warn about it.
If the interview is online:
- Take care of a stable internet connection
- Check in advance, if the microphone and camera are working
- Choose a quiet room for video calls where no one will disturb you
It is more convenient to communicate during the interview when the camera is on, it allows you to see the emotions and reactions of your interlocutor. This way the interview takes place in a more natural way. Successful interviews require some preparation but don’t prepare answers because artificiality is always felt. Be yourself!
Test task
The test task is a great opportunity to demonstrate how you work before you start working for the company. We at Excited send a test task, which is designed to check skills and experience in product design. We also give candidates the opportunity to determine how long it takes to complete and when the finished task will be sent. Try not to overestimate your capabilities — if you set an unrealistic deadline, the quality of work will suffer.
Presentation of the test task
Apparently, not all companies give the opportunity to present a test task, but be prepared to do so (sometimes asked to do it in English, if the vacancy has requirements for its knowledge at a certain level). We ask candidates to present in Ukrainian, but we test your knowledge of English at the interview.
The presentation of the test task is not only an opportunity to show your communication skills, and the ability to use theoretical knowledge to justify your design solutions, but also an opportunity to get feedback from technical experts.
Summary
To be aware of what is happening in the companies of your dreams, follow them on social media, there are usually posts about open positions. And if it doesn’t work out the first time, don’t burn the bridges, you will probably have the opportunity to apply again in the future.
